School Daze
by Tiva-Jisbonxxx
Summary: Sequel to Lisbon's Nieces so read that first. T for now but maybe M later cause of my potty mouth. Lisbon's life is finally looking up she has the perfect guy and wonderful daughters but what happens when one of them is kidnapped. Don't forget to review.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the Mentalist or 'If Only You Knew'.**

**This is what happens when I get bored when I'm supposed to be doing my homework! The sequel to Lisbon's nieces so if you haven't read that yet you'll want to otherwise it will make no sense! So enjoy and don't forget to review!**

* * *

As the buzz of her alarm went off Teresa snuggled into her pillow, she wasn't ready to go into work not after the break she had. She heard a knock at the door and mumbled a sleepy "M'in."

"Rise and shine sleepy head," Jane said cheerily with a cup of coffee in hand.

She sat up and stuck her hand out for her mug "I knew there was a reason I kept you around," she replied when she had her coffee in hand.

He smiled before he got pushed out of the way by an aggravated teen, "Aunt Tess will you tell Lilly to get out of the shower _some_ of us still need to get ready," Abby complained

This is going to be interesting she thought she wasn't used to having four other women in the house with her. It was going to take some getting used to she realized as she went upstairs to prevent the third world war from starting in her bathroom. "What is the problem here? You all have all gotten ready in here before what's changed?"

"Lilly has been in the shower for almost twenty minutes! Normally we don't have to be ready at any certain time but now we have to be ready for school after being out for over half a month!" Abby exclaimed.

"Lilly, get out of the shower!" Lisbon shouted "There now who hasn't had a shower yet?"

All three of the girls raised their hands "Ok we have two hours until you need to be at school you each have fifteen minutes in the shower. You can decide who gets the first shower, draw straws or flip a coin I don't care just make sure I have time to get ready!"

When she went back downstairs the first thing she saw was a laughing Jane. "What's so funny?" she snapped.

He stuck his hands up in mock surrender "Calm down Teresa. The girls are just adjusting they'll settle in soon."

It was like he could read her mind; she flopped down on the couch beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. She sighed "I just hope it's soon. I didn't realize how different teenage girls were from teenage boys."

Jane politely suppressed his laughter knowing that today of all days that it would not be a good idea to piss Lisbon off. So he just nodded and said "You make a good mom Lisbon and I'm sure that once they get used to the new situation everything is going to be fine. Plus you have me to help you out and I'm sure if you asked the team would help too." He chuckled in spite of himself at the thought of it.

"What is so funny?" Lisbon questioned.

"I was just thinking about Cho trying to comfort four hormonal teenage girls."

At the thought of that Lisbon started laughing too. The thought of it put her in a better mood and she got up from the couch so that she could start getting ready.

* * *

Two hours later they were in the car on their way to school, she felt more nervous than the girls did she had to pick up all their school stuff the night before and was worried that they were missing something. "If anything happens or your missing something just call I'll have my cell with me at all times."

"Chill Aunt Tess you've done this before nothing is different," Becky said calmly.

She was right of course but she still felt what could only be described as panic when the four girls climbed out of her SUV. Jane laid his hand on her arm and joked "The baby birds are leaving the nest."

She shot him a death glare and pulled out of the lot "You better behave today," she chided "because we're going to be watched all day today."

He gave her a look of innocence and asked "Oh, Lisbon when am I anything but well behaved."

* * *

After two weeks at home with the girls and Jane it took some getting used to when she got back. She got some glares from several women on her way inside the CBI building. Jane laughed when he saw her look of confusion "By now everyone in the building knows that were together Lisbon. You're getting death glares from women who were hoping to be where you are now."

"Really that many women want to put up with your annoying ass."

He stuck his tongue out at her while she smirked at him. "Will you two not do that at work. You had two weeks to get the new couple crap out of the way," Cho said as he walked into the room.

Lisbon blushed furiously as Jane said "Well Cho it might take some getting used to; after all I did have two weeks where I could do whatever I wanted with her and not worry about anyone walking in."

As Lisbon regained her composure she added "That's not entirely true Jane."

He nodded "She's right; we did have to worry about the mini Lisbons walking in."

"Mini Lisbons?" Van Pelt questioned as she walked in.

"My nieces," Lisbon answered "Jane is convinced that they're mini-me's"

"Not your nieces anymore," Jane corrected.

Grace gave her a confused look "I legally adopted them, so technically they're my daughters now."

* * *

She left after that to keep from having to answer more questions. She expected Jane to follow her but he didn't he went straight to his beat-up, brown leather couch. She rolled her eyes; I swear sometimes I think he loves that couch more than me she thought. When she got to her office she felt her jaw drop at the massive pile of paperwork that filled her desk. I'm gone two weeks and it takes over she thought; with a sigh she sat down and put in her iPod hoping that it would at least make time go by faster and if nothing else prevent people from coming in and interrupting her.

Jane knew that Lisbon was a little aggravated that he didn't move from his spot on the couch into her office. But, what she didn't realize was that in the right position on the couch not only could he see the spot on the ceiling that looked like Elvis he also had a perfect view of her office or more specifically a perfect view of her. He also knew that if he was in the office with her he wouldn't be able to stand being in such close quarters with her and not be able to hold her, to kiss her, too well do what they had been doing for the past two weeks just be with each other, he didn't have to explain anything to her he could just hold her in his arms and know that everything would be alright.

As she sat at her desk she could feel her head slightly bob to the beat of the peppy song coming out of her headphones. She loved We the Kings and had all of their music on her iPod and not much else so she was surprised when a song that she didn't remember putting on her iPod started to play. The girls had taken her iPod and loaded it with all of the 'hottest music' so she just kept listening and about thirty seconds in she dropped her pen in shock not sure if she had heard correctly. She picked up her music player and looked at the song 'If Only You Knew' the title seemed oddly fitting. If only you knew how much this song fits with my life she thought and wondered if the girls had done it on purpose.

When he looked into Lisbon's office he saw a look of both panic and shock and felt himself bolt upright. He rose quickly and walked as calmly as he could through the bull pen into her office. "What's wrong?" he questioned with a slight note of panic in his voice.

Lisbon heard herself laugh nervously "Nothing for you to get all worked up about Jane it's just a song the girls must have put on my iPod it, well it caught me a little off guard."

He nodded and entered the room more at ease now that he knew that she was alright. "Well, let me listen," he demanded in a tone of voice that reminded her of a kid.

But she handed it over anyway and saw a look that she assumed mirrored the look she had on her face moments ago. When the song ended he handed her iPod back to her and opened and closed his mouth as if he was trying to speak but was unable to. When speech returned to him all that he could say was "Wow!"

"My thoughts exactly."

He looked at his blue eyes seeming to pierce her soul "It's true."

"What's true?"

He stared at her as if he was seeing her for the first time "You're the only one I really believe in anymore," he paused and then corrected himself "well you and the team."

She grabbed his hand and held it tightly between hers when her phone rang; she smiled at him and picked it up "Hello."

"Hello," a nasally voice replied "is this Agent Teresa Lisbon."

"Yes," she replied with concern creeping into her voice.

"This is Principal Reid, I work at…"

Lisbon cut her off "I know where you work," she snapped "will you please just tell me why you're calling," Jane could hear the panic creeping in her voice but was unsure as to why.

Principal Reid cleared her throat and continued "Agent I'm not sure how to tell you this."

"So just spit it out."

"Your daughter, Rebecca…"

"What about her?"

"We… We can't find her."

The phone clattered to the floor out of Lisbon's hand. She couldn't feel anything she was in total shock the only thing anchoring her to this world was Jane holding her hand she thought she could hear his saying "Lisbon, Lisbon what's wrong. Teresa answer me." But she wasn't sure, the only thing she could really hear was the echo of what Principal Reid had said bouncing around in her head _we can't find her, we can't find her, we can't find her._

* * *

**Bum, bum, bum! What's gonna happen, has Becky been kidnapped, does it have to do with a case Lisbon is working? All these questions will be answered in the next update but only if you review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**If I owned the Mentalist I would not be writing this so do you really even have to ask?**

**In chapter one there were some questions that will be answered in this chapter such as whether or not Becky was kidnapped, if it has to do with a case the team is working, and the big one what's gonna happen now? So sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

* * *

The phone hit the desk with a thud not that Lisbon noticed, she didn't notice anything going on around her. Jane quickly scooped up the phone "Hello, hello."

"Yes, hello," Principal Reid answered "who is this? I was just speaking with Agent Lisbon, what happened to her?"

"She," he paused unsure of how to answer "she is unable to answer at the moment. If you don't mind my asking, what did you say to her?"

"Only if you don't mind telling me who you are?"

"I'm Patrick Jane, I'm" again he was unsure how to answer should he tell this person that he was her boyfriend or her consultant. It really all depended on the nature of the call he supposed "I'm a close friend of agent Lisbon's." He said hoping it was a safe answer.

"Well, then I suppose you'll find out sooner or later. Her daughter has gone missing and we are unable to find her."

The news shocked him and he now understood Lisbon's reaction, "How did this happen" he said as he motioned for the team to come in through the window.

He could tell he caught her off guard by the uncomfortable pause on the other end of the line. She huffed and replied "I'm not sure and I don't appreciate the tone you're using Mr. Jane. If you'll excuse me I have to attend to the other students."

He heard the click on the other end telling him that the conversation was over. When he turned he saw the team looking expectantly at him. "One of Lisbon's daughters has been taken from the school and they can't find her. Grace," he said looking at the young agent "I need you to stay here and try to snap Lisbon out of this. Rigsby, I want you to stay here try to get some leads. Cho, your with me were going to the school to see if we can get any more information from the principal or the other students."

"Well, let's go," he snapped when nobody moved. He squeezed Lisbon's hand as he got up to leave and said a silent prayer that Grace would be able to help her snap out of whatever state she was in.

* * *

When they got to the school Jane rushed into the building with Cho tailing close behind him, there hadn't been much conversation in the car; Cho drove while Jane thought about Lisbon and the girls especially Becky and why someone would take her. When they got to the main office Cho and Jane were directed toward the Principal's office. "CBI," Cho said answering her unasked question "we're her to talk to you about…"

"We're here to ask how you managed to lose a student," Jane interrupted.

The outrage was immediately evident on her face as she sputtered trying to think of a reply before she could respond Cho interceded with "What my colleague meant to ask was how do you know that she's missing and when was the last place she was seen."

She arched her back and inhaled sharply before answering "We know she's missing because she didn't show up to second block. She was seen in first block or at least her teacher said she was there."

"If she was seen in first how do you know she just wasn't skipping," Jane questioned knowing that Becky hated her second block, not that she would skip but it wasn't completely out of the question and made more sense than a kidnapping.

She opened her mouth and replied with an obviously prepared statement "When a student isn't in class and has been marked as here by a previous teacher and hasn't been signed out by a parent or guardian they are paged to the office. Miss Lisbon was paged and did not show up."

"So you assume she's been kidnapped!" Jane cried incredulously "That's outrageous did you even look for her."

"Well I, I you see…"

"Save it just call Abigail, Lilly, and Katelyn Lisbon out of their current classes so that I can speak with them. Cho," he said turning toward the other man "you can deal with her. I'll talk to the other girls to see if they know anything." He turned and left the room leaving a stunned Principal Reid and a pissed off Cho in his wake.

When the girls entered the office Jane could see the worry on their face which quickly changed to relief and then back to worry. "Jane why are you here," Abby questioned nervously "is something wrong with Aunt Tess?"

He cringed before answering "No nothing's wrong with Aunt Tess but I suppose this means you haven't heard."

"Heard what," Lilly asked.

He inhaled deeply before saying "They can't find Becky she went missing sometime between first and second block. They think she's been kidnapped."

He felt his heart break when he saw the tears instantly spring to the eyes of the young girls "Wh-Why isn't Aunt T-Tess here?" Kate questioned her stutter more pronounced than usual as she spoke thorough the tears that poured down her face.

There was a slight pause before he answered but it was enough to send them into more panic he could see the fear in their eyes "She's trying to get a lead so that we can find Becky," he answered hoping to put their minds at ease. It worked he could see them visibly relax and their tears seemed to slow, how do I tell them that their Aunt had a nervous breakdown after hearing about Becky's disappearance he thought I hope Grace has her fixed by the time we get back.

* * *

Grace panicked at the thought of having to try to snap Lisbon out of her nearly comatose state, she looked at Rigsby hoping he would have a suggestion he just shrugged and left leaving her on her own. After standing awkwardly in the doorway for a few minutes she slowly walked into the room still unsure of what to do "Um… Boss," she cringed thinking about how stupid she must sound "Boss, snap out of it." She waved her hand in front of Lisbon's face like she had seen Jane do after he put someone in a trance. "Come on boss you starting to freak us out. We're really worried about you, boss, especially Jane." Damn she thought still nothing she had been trying to get her attention by saying the same general phrases over and over, things like "We're worried about you, boss." And "Come on boss snap out of it." But after an hour with no results she decided to pull out the big guns.

"I'm sorry boss but you leave me no choice." She said more to herself than Lisbon "Boss I feel that you should know that since you had your freak out and aren't responding that Jane took control and is leading the investigation."

She saw an immediate reaction as her boss sprung from the chair and shouted "WHAT?"

Van Pelt took a quick step back from the desk "Well, when you uh, froze up Jane couldn't get your attention so he took control of the investigation. We all felt it was best because he knew more about the case than we did. He's at the school right now," she looked at her phone and added "that's him right now actually if you want to talk to him."

She grabbed the phone from Van Pelt and shouted "Jane, what the hell do you think you're doing taking over my investigation!"

"Oh, Lisbon no need to get mad," she could hear the relief in his voice underneath the sarcasm, then he was suddenly very serious "we're on our way back and I've got Abby, Lilly, and Kate with me. And Lisbon this isn't looking good."

She didn't need him to explain what he meant and all of the anger left her body so she just whispered "Ok I'll see you when you get back, bye." Lisbon could feel the weight of the world pressing down on her shoulders she had been responsible for the girls for one day and already one of them was missing.

Van Pelt could see the stress pour off of her boss in waves and wondered if it would have been better to leave her in that trance like state for a little while longer or at least until they had a couple of leads.

* * *

When the elevator doors dinged open Jane quickly ushered the girls into their Aunt's office before he went into the bullpen to talk to the team. When he walked into the room he immediately checked the window to see Teresa, he saw her scoop the girls into her arms and start to blink back tears. He turned to face the team wanting to give them a private moment; he looked expectantly at the team when no one volunteered anything he looked at Rigsby the one charged with finding the lead. "Sorry Jane," he said "I really haven't been able to find anything that we didn't already know. The school is very low security that paired with the fact that they didn't lock down the school after they found out," he paused leaving the rest to the imagination.

Jane sighed "She could be anywhere," he turned toward Cho and asked "where there any security cameras near the school or an ATM camera, something?"

Cho thought for a moment "The area around the school is mostly residential but there was a small grocery store that might have a camera."

Jane's eyes lit up at the thought "Van Pelt you work on that Cho, I want you and Rigsby to go back to the school and search it top to bottom. Interview all of Becky's teachers, the custodial staff, and anyone who works in the office. If someone saw something I want to know about it if you get any leads call me." After he gave everyone their assignments he turned and headed toward Lisbon's office he hadn't seen her since her breakdown and he wanted to talk to her.

* * *

He entered the room silently with steps so light it was almost as if he was floating. He didn't want to disturb them if they were having a family moment; Lord knows we don't have enough of those he thought knowingly. He loved seeing the way Teresa's eyes lit up when she talked to the girls, she let down her guard when she was around them and though it was a rare sight it was something Jane always relished seeing. When they finally noticed Jane standing in the door way the three girls shared a look, even with their leader missing the three partners in crime were still plotting ways to get the two of them in more romantic situations, they then left the room to go to the kitchen.

She smiled at him hoping it would ease the pain she could see in his eyes, this was taking a lot out of him and she could tell. "Looks like my job's harder than you thought, isn't it," she joked trying to relive the tension she could see bottled up inside him.

He smiled but it looked like it physically pained him, as he sat down beside her he wrapped his arm around her and she could feel the dam break all the fear, sadness, and pain rushed out and she started to cry. He pulled her closer not saying a word just letting it all pour out; the tears flowed freely making her vulnerable in a way that she hadn't been since her mother's death. Never had any one seen her this weak, this open and Jane knew it; in a way it made him love her more that she trusted him enough to show him this side of her, a side that she never let anyone see.

They just sat like that her crying into his chest and him holding her gingerly, as if afraid the slightest movement would break her, until she sat up wiped her eyes and smiled at him slightly embarrassed at letting that much of her be seen."I know your scared Lisbon but we'll find her don't worry," Jane whispered.

"That's not what I'm worried about."

He looked at her confused "What do you mean?"

"I'm not worried about us finding her; I'm worried about how we'll find her." She paused and said a little more powerfully "I don't want to see her in a body bag Jane."

"That won't happen Teresa; we're going to find her. Alive!"

She couldn't look up at him, she couldn't look into his eyes and see the worry see the truth; he didn't know if they would find her body bag or no. The comfort he offered her came with a price, she would have to ignore the fact that Jane couldn't and didn't know if they would find her. She would have to treat this case like any other.

"Did you speak with the parents?"

"What?"

She cleared her throat "Did you talk to James; most kidnappings are committed by a biological relative."

"You're not suggesting…"

"No, I'm not saying he did it but he still deserves to know. She is," she corrected herself "was his daughter he deserves to know what happened. Maybe he'll know something."

"Alright I'll tell Van Pelt to call him. Are you sure you want to work this case, Teresa?" he asked.

"I don't know if I want to but, I defiantly need to."

He looked at her knowingly and kissed her on the top of her head "The girls are coming back, so dry those pretty eyes of yours and smile. We'll get her back I promise." With that he rose and left the room to call James, Van Pelt had enough on her plate and didn't need one more thing to do.

* * *

He walked over to his rarely used desk and reached over to the office phone that sat on top of it when his cell rang. "Hello."

"Jane, it's Cho we got a lead."

* * *

**End of Chapter two! So review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I would like to apologize in advance for my god awful poetry which you will see later. If you're a poet and you know it (bad rhyme I know) please, please, please contact me, PM, or something. I can give you, well you'll understand when you finish the story but if you know you can do better please email me!**

* * *

Jane bolted up nearly knocking the desk over. "What's the lead," he cried.

Cho paused "It's, it's difficult to describe you need to come back down to the school though."

"Dammit Cho just tell me," he growled

He sighed "When we went back through the school we found a back entrance. It's not on any of the school maps."

"What kind of lead is that?" he snapped.

"Patience Jane, there's a security camera that's trained on the back door it got a look at Becky and who took her."

"That's great! Is it enough to bring down the son of a bitch?"

He could practically hear Cho frown through the phone "That's the thing, the quality isn't great and he has his back to the camera. If we send it off for forensics to look at we might be able to get an id but it isn't likely."

Jane fell back into his seat fatigue and grief rolling off of him in waves. "Send it to forensics, maybe they can get something off it. I'll meet you at the school in fifteen."

He rose again suddenly feeling decades older, he started to leave and then turned to the rookie agent "Grace, when you get the time will you please call James. He's the biological father and Lisbon wants him to know what happened."

* * *

When Jane got to the school he couldn't find Cho or Rigsby so he started to wander to school, he wasn't sure where he was going but he wasn't surprised when he ended up in Becky's first block class. He walked in to find her math teacher sitting behind the desk. "Are you Mrs. Harrington?"

She looked up and said "Yes, I suppose you're from the CBI."

"Yes I'm Patrick Jane; I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Ok, let's have it."

"Are you sure that Becky was in your class this morning?"

"Yes."

"Did she leave the class early?"

"No. If you don't mind my asking, why are you questioning me? If she went missing it was during her second block class or on the way there."

"It's just routine ma'm we're just trying to get an idea of who saw her."

"If it helps she was the last one out of the room after the bell rang, by the time she left most of the hallways had cleared."

"Was that normal for her?"

"Yes, she would usually hang back for a little while to talk about the assignment or the test."

"Thank you, you've been a great help. Oh, and one last thing can you tell me how to get to Mr. David's room."

He walked down the hall on the way to Mr. David's class he was looking for entry and exit points that would allow for a quick escape. When he got to the room he found Rigsby and Cho already interviewing him, he shot Cho a look and continued down the hallway and headed toward Becky's locker. He had gotten the combination from Lilly, and was able to quickly find and open it. He found the usual text books, note books, and the like. He pulled them out, not sure what he was looking for or if he would know what it was when he found it.

* * *

He didn't know what he was expecting to find as he slowly pulled everything out of her locker but he defiantly didn't think he was going to find a blood red envelope taped to the back wall. Jane took a step back and quickly turned and ran to get Cho and Rigsby. He ran right into Rigsby when he was halfway to Mr. David's room.

After he pulled Jane up from the floor Cho asked "Jane what are you doing?"

"The locker, there's, there's a letter or a picture or something in an envelope," he sputtered as he pulled the two agents down the hallway.

When they got back to the locker, Jane pointed to the red envelope taped to the back. "We should get CSI techs down here to dust for prints," he said "not that there are going to be any."

Cho just nodded and pulled on a pair of latex gloves before pulling the envelope off the back wall. "Any chance it was licked closed?" Jane questioned hopefully.

He shook his head and carefully tore it open. Inside was a poem written in blood red ink

It's where young dreams come to die

Painted white, innocence covering evil

Act with speed and maybe one less

Will end their careers here…

Cho handed it to Jane "Can you make anything out of it."

Jane looked the card over and noticed a small arrow in the corner telling him to flip to the back. He cautiously turned it, afraid of what he would find. When he looked at it his heart stopped he dropped it as if it had scorched him. On the back was a single line,

Oh and Jane, it's good to be back.

It was signed with a blood red smiley face that seemed to mock the man. Cho looked at him curiously wondering why he had dropped the seemingly harmless piece of paper. He just pointed at it and took a step back as if afraid it would jump up and bite him. After the two agents read the last line even the stony faced Cho showed some concern for the man. "It's just a copycat," he rationally pointed out "Red John was executed almost two months ago."

He just nodded unable to find his voice; he slowly bent down and warily picked up the card. He placed it into an open evidence bag that Rigsby seemed to pull from nowhere. He held the note again now safely trapped behind the evidence bag, he ran the poem over and over through his head trying to make sense of it. "Sh-she's in Hollywood, I-I think," Jane stuttered out, he cleared his throat and tried again "I think he has her somewhere in Hollywood."

He handed the bag back to Cho, "Is that all you can get from it," he asked "Hollywood doesn't help us much."

He slammed the open locker "I know it doesn't help," he shouted as he spun to face the man, he then slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. He held his head in his hands looking utterly defeated he whispered "I just don't know what else to do."

The two agents looked at each other, both were concerned for their coworker but neither knew how to comfort the man. Cho watched as Rigsby opened and closed his mouth struggling for words that would never come. He looked to Cho for guidance, the other man nodded toward the door and they quietly slipped out.

Jane heard the two agents slip away, he was unsure if they were giving him time and space to think or if they were just uncomfortable. He sat there with his back pressed against the wall of lockers thinking about the note. Even in death the bastard won't leave me alone he thought as the image of that red smile crept into his head. He stayed there for what seemed like hours running over the four lines of poetry trying to find a single location that fit but he couldn't focus on the poem. His mind kept coming back to Red John.

* * *

Red John had been captured by Lisbon and the team almost a year earlier, Jane had taken himself off the case when he felt that they were close. The only reason they had caught him was because of a slip-up on Red John's part, Lisbon had seen it immediately and used it to find several leads they had missed earlier. Then nearly eight months after his incarceration, Jane found himself in the front row watching the execution. He would have even pressed the button on the syringe if they had let him. He hadn't allowed himself to kill the bastard because of his blooming feelings for Teresa, so he stuck to just watching it happen legally. Though truth be told, he thought, I would have much rather watch him fry in the chair then die by the needle.

He tossed these thoughts aside and slowly rose from the floor. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there but based on how stiff he felt he would have guessed about an hour. As he walked toward his car he looked around the parking lot searching for the stereotypical, black four-door that Cho drove. When he spotted it across the street at the small family owned convenience store he thought about joining them; he knew they were there to get the security camera footage and question the owners about what they may or may not have seen. Instead he slid into the front seat of his car and drove toward the CBI building.

* * *

Lisbon had been trying to find a break in the case while at the same time trying to keep the girls from freaking out. Becky was their sister, their cousin, their best friend and she was missing it could have been any one of them and that thought sent them into a panic. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to deal with the news as a parent either; as an agent she had seen many different reactions to the news from bursting into tears to a calm silence. She had done a little of both she had been shocked and silent when she first heard but burst into tears when she had Jane to hold her.

She heard the elevator door ding and looked from her spot at Jane's desk trying to see who it was. When she saw Jane exit the elevator she was surprised by how much he seemed to have aged in the past five hours. You didn't need to be psychic to read what was on his mind. "No luck," she asked.

"Just the opposite," he said sadly.

She could feel tears welling up in her eyes; she blinked furiously trying to force them back. She had already let too much of herself be seen today and she had to stay strong for the girls.

Concern flashed in his eyes "It's not like that Lisbon, we have a lead it's just not one you're going to like." He pulled her out of his chair and into her office; he sat down on the couch and motioned for her to join. When she sat down beside him he pulled her close before whispering "Teresa I'm so sorry this, this is entirely my fault."

She pulled back and looked up at him "What do you mean," she asked.

She looked at him red rimming his blue eyes; he took a deep breath before quickly forcing out "Red John he… he's back," after that managed to escape his lips the rest followed suit. After a couple minutes he managed to get Lisbon caught up when he finished he looked down at his hands afraid to look her in the eyes.

* * *

Teresa listened dumbly to his story and when he finished her mind was reeling; Red John couldn't be back that much she knew for certain. She also knew that Jane knew this but for some reason he still felt that it was his fault, she wrapped her arm around him "Patrick Jane look at me," she said forcefully "this isn't your fault. It's some sick freak who's pretending to be Red John and we're going to bring him down. Now let's see if we can figure out where Becky is, read the poem for me again"

He nodded and read the poem again this time a little slower; she scrunched her brow deep in thought. "Are you sure it's Hollywood," she questioned after a few moments.

"Well what else would be?"

"I'm just wondering what the second line has to do with Hollywood; young dreams, careers, and acting that much makes sense but what does it being white have to do with anything?"

A look of aggravation and despair flashed across his face, "Then I don't know maybe the girls have some idea what it means; you should show it to them maybe if they figure it out quickly we can find Becky…" he dropped off not needing to finish the sentence.

Lisbon nodded knowing what he meant if they figured it out quickly then there was a better chance of finding Becky alive. She called the girls in; they looked around the room searching for their missing comrade. When they didn't see her they looked up at Lisbon expectantly "D-Did you find a-anything," Kate questioned.

"Maybe," she answered "Jane found something in her locker; he's going to read it to you guys and see if you can figure out what it means."

The three girls nodded in unison and stared intently at the man. He recited the poem once again; when he finished the girls remained silent he could almost see the cogs turning in their head as they struggled to solve to puzzle that could bring their sister home. Several minutes passed and the girls still hadn't come up with a solution, Jane sighed and started to get up when suddenly Abby shouts "I got it!"

They all looked at her expectantly "She's in Hollywood," she exclaimed.

Lisbon looked over and saw Jane's face fall she assumed that it mirrored the expression on her own. "Good try sweetie, but we need someplace a little bit more specific than Hollywood."

"I think it's the Hollywood sign," Lilly whispered barely loud enough for Lisbon to her.

She blinked incredulously "W-What did you say?"

She cleared her throat "The Hollywood sign I think it's talking about the Hollywood sign. Painted white, everything made sense except that so it explains that much."

Jane fought the urge to face palm over the simplicity of that answer of course it was the Hollywood sign what else would it be. He jumped up and over to the door "Van Pelt get Cho and Rigsby here now tell them I think I know where she is," he hollered.

* * *

An hour later they were all piled in Lisbon's black SUV on the way to the airport. "I can't believe Mashburn is letting us use his private helicopter," Lisbon repeated for maybe the hundredth time.

Jane cringed; he felt a surge of jealousy at the sound of Mashburn's name. "Why is _he_ doing something to help us," Abby questioned "he doesn't even know us."

Jane smiled a little in spite of the question "It's because he's in _love_ with your aunt," he answered rolling his eyes.

"He isn't… I wouldn't… It isn't like…" Teresa sputtered.

"How come you don't like him Jane," Lilly asked.

"Because he's a rich, conceited, narcissistic, pain in the ass."

"It's because Mashburn slept with Aunt Tess before he could," Abby muttered.

The girls erupted into a fit of giggles. Lisbon blushed bright red in embarrassment "When all this is over you three are going to be in so much trouble," she threatened; which only made the girls laugh harder. She looked over at Jane and he smiled at her sheepishly "Well, what do you have to say about this?"

"She's kinda right actually," answered only half joking. She glared at him and turned to face the road.

* * *

An hour later they made it to the helipad, Lisbon hadn't said a word the whole way there and it made Jane anxious. This feeling of dread skyrocketed when he saw Walter Mashburn standing by the helicopter. As Lisbon reached for the door handle Jane grabbed her arm "I-I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what," she snapped.

"For whatever I said that pissed you off. I didn't mean what I said before, it was said out of jealousy and I'll admit a little bit of anger. I do hate Mashburn but no it's not just because he got with you before I could it's because he realized his feelings for you before I could admit to mine. I'm worried that seeing him will make you realize that you want someone who can give you whatever you want, not a broken man who is still fighting his own demons."

For the second time that day tears flowed freely down her face "Patrick, I don't love Mashburn to be honest I can barely tolerate him. While you may be an irksome pain in the ass your also the love of my life."

He leaned in close and kissed her lightly on the forehead, "Come on lets go find Becky," he whispered.

* * *

The flight was a long one; Mashburn rode alongside Jane and chattered endlessly about his new car, his new house, and his new girlfriend, Jane began to wonder if it would ever end. When the chopper touched down almost two hours later right behind the letter H. Jane quickly leaped out and helped Lisbon and the girls out. They slowly began the four hundred fifty foot walk toward the D. They walked slowly looking for anything that would point out where Becky was. After several minutes passed hopelessness began to sink in they were nearly halfway to the end. When suddenly Kate screamed "I-I found somet-thing."

All four rushed to her immediately they noticed something was wrong "What'd you find," Jane asked looking around.

She pointed to just above her head on the large white O. Jane looked and then he saw it, a gasp escaped his throat; on the sign was a blood red envelope with a blood red smile underneath it.

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**So what did you think! Now that you're done you realize that I need help with my evil serial killer poetry! So if you know you can do better email me! That's all for now so don't forget to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

The smile stopped him dead in his tracks, she wasn't here it was another one of those damn letters. They had come this far just to find another clue in some psychopath's scavenger hunt. Lisbon gripped his arm tightly ignoring the letter he held clenched in his hand "I-is that blood," she asked pointing at the smile.

"Blood," the girls cried "why, why would there be blood?"

She winced unsure of how to answer, how could she tell the girls that this red smile could either be spray paint or the blood of their closest friend; instead she ignored the question entirely. She noticed the letter in Jane's hand "We should get the team out here. If we hurray there might be some evidence."

He shook his head "You and I both know that there won't be anything for them to find up here. But," he looked at his watch "Mashburn should be here any moment with them."

As if on cue she heard the chopping of propellers as the helicopter touched down a few feet away from them; the three agent exited the copter immediately after it touched ground. "Was she here," the concerned Grace asked.

Jane disregarded the question and instead turned toward Cho "I need you to take a sample of this," he ordered motioning at the sign.

"Are you looking for anything specific?"

"Just make sure it isn't…" he dropped off not finishing the sentence, not that he needed to they all knew what they were hoping not to find.

He nodded "Do you want me to dust the envelope for prints."

"Don't bother there won't be any."

"What does it say," Rigsby asked motioning at the envelope in his hands.

"I'm not sure I-I haven't opened it yet."

As he spoke he started to rip off the tape that held the envelope closed; but, before he could Lisbon grabbed his arm "Wait, what if there is a print on the tape from where he tore it off the role."

"Do you really think the un-sub would be that careless," he questioned.

She looked down "Maybe not but would it really hurt to look," the hopelessness was evident in her voice; it broke his heart to hear his strong, willful boss and girl friend reduced to such despair and misery.

He handed the envelope to Cho who slid on a pair of latex gloves and tore it open he handed a red piece of stationary to Jane and stuck the envelope in an evidence bag. "What does it say," Lisbon asked.

He cleared his throat and read it aloud.

Tsk, tsk Jane you thought the fun would be over so soon.

If you're worried about the kid she's still alive

For now…

And she might stay that way if you can solve another one of my riddles.

He paused and flipped the card over to find another paragraph. He looked around the group checking to see who would speak up; who would keep him from reading the horrid poem. When no one did he began to read it in a slow steady voice:

Steel structure moving, swaying;

As she climbs you should be praying.

Was she pushed or did she fall,

Heaven knows it's not your call

Starsky and Monk will decide;

If it was a suicide.

When he finished he looked around the group, at some point while he was reading Grace's hands had flown to her face to cover the look of shock; Rigsby had wrapped an arm around her holding her close. It was a loving gesture making it obvious that they had once again started to date and if they hadn't then they would soon. Cho stood in stony silence thinking about what the poem could possibly mean and how he could find the girl; he was treating this like any other case, which was smart. It was good to have one agent who wasn't going to make this case personal, it kept his mind open to possibilities that others wouldn't accept. Lisbon, Teresa she stood in a saddened silence not crying but upset she had pushed her feelings back behind a dam that would burst at some point but when she didn't know or care. The girls matched their aunt determined to find Becky mental health be damned, they would force back their grief until it forced them to stop but until then they were going to keep swimming.

When he noticed a chill run down her spine he quickly said "We're going to take this back to the CBI," he motioned to Cho "I want you to run the scene I'll send Mashburn back to get after we get back."Cho nodded, turned and started to give the team their orders.

When he turned his back Jane wrapped his arm around Lisbon and pulled her close "We're going to find her," he whispered and then after a moment added "alive." With a nod she allowed herself to be lead toward the chopper.

* * *

The ride was an uneventful one, Lisbon and the girls were lost in thought; he knew they were going to try to figure out what that poem meant or die trying. Jane was more concerned with figuring out who could have gotten Becky in and out of the school before anyone could notice. He had walked the route that she took daily and if he exited using the door they know he did then there should have been a class room full of kids who saw the kidnapping happen. But no one had stepped forward, no one. He was thinking about this and how the kidnapper was able to get into her locker when suddenly Lilly asked "Who's Starsky?"

"What sweetie," Lisbon asked snapping out of her daze.

"Who's Starsky," she repeated "his name was in the poem. The way they said it made it sound like he was a cop. Do you know him?"

Lisbon frowned, her head cocked to the right and her brow scrunched "I-I don't know who he is. T-The name doesn't ring a bell."

The girls looked at Jane "Do you know who he is," Abby asked.

"I don't know either, what kind of hint is this. The whole point is that we should be able to figure this out and none of us even know who he is," he shouted the last three words irate at the imposter who was trying to tear Teresa's family apart.

When suddenly he heard Mashburn chuckle, after he heard this he was fuming "What's so funny Mashburn," he snarled ignoring the hand Lisbon placed on his arm trying to hold him or maybe his temper back.

"You really don't know, do you," he asked in a condescending tone that made his blood boil.

"Dammit just spit out Mashburn."

"Come on you really don't know who he is. Your making me feel old Teresa, dear."

Jealousy flared deep inside Jane "A life is in danger Mashburn this isn't a game just tell us who the hell he is."

"Temper, temper Jane, he was the main character in that old cop show Starsky and Hutch. Remember now?"

"Where was it set," Abby asked. Jane could see her mind reeling struggling to put the pieces together.

"Southern California, somewhere like that, I think," he replied.

"What does southern California have to do with monasteries and monks," Lisbon asked.

After she asked the question the girls erupted in a fit of laughter, they didn't clam down enough to speak until they were out of the copter and in the car. "I don't see what was so funny," she said hurt and anger in her voice.

"It wasn't that funny," Lilly admitted "but we really didn't want Mashburn to hear what we figured out."

"Well," Abby added "the whole monk, monasteries thing was pretty funny."

The comment earned her a glare from Lisbon, "Then what does it mean," she snapped more out of embarassment than anger.

"M-Monk is a ch-character in a TV show," Kate said "it's s-set in San Francisco."

Realization sparked in Jane and Lisbon "So she might be somewhere there," she confirmed.

"Not just anywhere," Jane added "based on the rest of the poem I think she's at the Golden Gate Bridge." When he finished this Lisbon's foot pressed harder on the accelerator.

"He's planning on pushing her off the bridge," she said speed wavering dangerously close to 100 "and he will if we don't get there first."

* * *

They sped toward the bridge it was an act of god that they weren't pulled over, not that Lisbon would stop if she saw a cop Jane thought. When they got there part of the road was closed off, Lisbon left the girls in the car and flashed her badge to get them in. She looked around trying to figure out why the bridge would be closed; that's when she saw the county ME van and a group of men pulling a body out of the water.

A petite brunette girl, holding a red envelope.

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**End of Chapter 4! So make sure to review cause more reviews = faster updates!**


	5. Chapter 5

So since Becky is my OC I'm doing this from first person so I hope you like it!

* * *

I cursed at myself the entire time I had been in that van, which could be anywhere from five minutes to five hours at this point I had lost track. It had been drilled in our heads from a young age 'Stranger Danger' and all that crap. But, let me tell you in a real life situation that really doesn't matter much when some crazy points a gun at your back in the middle of your school hallway you tend follow where he leads. Not that this was a freak accident by any means, my abduction had been planned and my abductor had made that very clear from the beginning I was merely a pawn in a game to get back at Aunt Tess' new boy toy Jane.

Not that any of that made it any less my fault, I had always been determined to go out fighting and the first time I have a gun pointed at me I turn into some pansy. Well I should be honest the gun wasn't the only thing that forced me into that van, the second the barrel was pressed into the small of my back a plan had started to form. Now I'm not a gun nut but I know enough to know that the one he pressed to my back was a small caliber and if I acted quickly the most that would happen would I could get grazed and the noise would alert the teacher; that was if I was quick and even then that was a best case scenario all of this flashed through my head in the span of a few second until he whispered "If you don't follow me I'm going to take one of the others and they might not make it. Do you really want to live with that?"

I knew exactly who he meant if I didn't go he was going to take Abby or Kate, or even worse he would take Lilly. I'm not the oldest of the group but I had always been the leader and the protector and there was no way this wackjob was going to lay a finger on them, Dad always said that I get my stubborn protectiveness from Aunt Tess which I guess is kind of nice. He also said that I look just like her the dark wavy hair, petite build and big eyes the only difference is mine are an icy blue that I guess I get from my mom not that I had ever met her to find that out.

So I allowed myself to be lead out a small door to a white four door van, by the way totally cliché, I had looked for any possible way out of the situation that was when I saw the security camera; it was a small little blip of a thing attached to the mom and pop shop across the street so I wasn't even sure if it could see me but that didn't stop me from turning towards it and waving hoping that when the CBI inevitably got called in someone would see it and help me. Until was ever so rudely shoved on my ass into the floor of the van, the huff that escaped my mouth was enough to get me bitch slapped by the back of his hand or maybe it was the gun knocking me out.

When I came to the migraine that I had felt like enough to kill me, and the indignation I felt at being treated like this brought out, well to be frank it brought out the bitch in me. "You better hope I don't have a concussion!" I shouted irate at the abuse that I had been through not even an hour into this trip. About that time was when I reached for my phone it wasn't in my back pocket where I usually kept it I whipped my head around causing a light to flash behind my eyes, defiantly not a good sign. I searched the floor around me looking for my purse hoping my phone was in there and when it wasn't I panicked "Where the hell is my phone," I shouted.

"Well, I very well couldn't have you calling for your Auntie, could I dear and as for that concussion well I think you'll be fine and if not then we can always get another one of you," he turned his head toward the passenger seat I couldn't see if there was anyone sitting there but I couldn't hear anyone else speaking. He nodded his head and replied "Yes, yes John I agree the blonde one does seem like a better choice now, but from what I've seen this one is the leader of the group."

My kidnapper spoke with what I would almost consider a British accent you could tell he likened himself to a gentleman based on the old fashioned way he spoke. As the pounding in my head quieted to a low throb I took a look around the van; I was laying on a blanket that covered the entire back there were no seats except for the two that Mystery Man and John sat in, there was a bottle of water in one corner that I presumed to be for me. I slowly crawled to the corner to get a drink something about being knocked unconscious made me thirsty that's when I got a good look at the passenger seat and more specifically the person who was missing from it. While I'm not a psychologist I had done a little research on schizophrenia after Jane insisted we watch a Beautiful Mind with him and based on what I had seen so far my kidnapper exhibited all the signs.

"Great just great I've been kidnapped by a crazy," I muttered. When suddenly he slammed on the breaks sending me flying to the front of the van, I cried out in pain as my head collided with the side door I guess that's when I blacked out again.

When I woke up again I was in a dark room tied to a chair, I heard whispering and based on the echo I thought I was in a basement, it was Mystery Man and he was arguing with his imaginary friend John.

"It's only been 4 hours John and Jane has already found the first clue," he paused listening to the invisible man.

"Yes, I know it might take him a while to figure it out, but we didn't plan on him finding it that quickly."

"Hmm… I didn't think of that. Yes, I supposed the smiley face will throw him for a little while."

"I don't know John maybe he'll chalk it up to a twisted serial killer."

"Ha well I suppose you're right we are technically a serial killer. No I don't think the thought will cross his mind that Red John has actually returned."

It unnerved me to see a grown man talking to himself like a child; but the conversation they were having unnerved me more.

Jane had spoken to us about Red John before; when he first started dating Aunt Tess we asked him about it. She had given us the general back story but curiosity had gotten the better of us, well it had gotten the better of me. He had told us how twisted the man was and how he thought of his murders as a game and when Jane went on live television saying he could catch the man it set him off, he killed his wife and child turning the murders of everyone after that into a game of cat and mouse for him. He had also told us that the only reason he had worked up the courage to ask Aunt Tess out was the execution of the killer. Romantic isn't it. So if Red John was considered twisted when he was alive I couldn't imagine how messed up this guy must be if he thought that Red John's ghost, for lack of a better word, was using him to get back at Jane.

I must have made some sort of noise because not much after that he turned and said "Oh yes John I see, our _guest, _has awakened."

Had this been a scene in one of those horror flicks Abby liked to watch the next thing that would happen is Mystery Man would slid behind me and whisper "Do you want to play a game," or something just as ridiculously cliché, but this was real. So when this guy walked up to me I was prepared for the worst. I certainly wasn't ready for him to quickly and efficiently slide a needle into my arm. He placed it in the crook of my elbow where I had seen people get blood taken from he then removed a bag of blood from my arm leaving me feeling woozy. "Hmm… something tells me that taking a pint of blood from someone who hasn't eaten after knocking them unconscious twice isn't the best idea," I snapped.

He didn't utter a word which frightened me, he quickly cut the rope holding me in the chair, grabbed my arm roughly flinging me out of it, and he pulled me up a flight of stairs and sat me in a chair at a long table. He went to the back of the chair and wrapped a rope around me tying me to it; I looked around at the room it was decorated sparsely making the lack of windows even more evident. The table was made of a dark brown wood and large enough to fit 10 to 12 people. The chair I sat in had a high back and was at the head of the table the farthest away from the door that lead out of the room and more than likely out of the house. There was a swinging door to my left that I assumed lead to a kitchen.

MM pulled tightly on the rope he used to bind me knocking the air out of me, once he was satisfied that I couldn't get away he went through the swinging door giving me a glimpse of a granite countertop and refrigerator. A few moments of silence passed before he roughly pushed to door open, he carelessly tossed a plate down in front of me, there was a steak on it barely cooked enough to be considered rare and a loaded baked potato. While I don't normally enjoy watching my food slowly bleed out on my plate I was starved and at that point I would have eaten anything I hadn't eaten all day. It was as I thought about food that I considered the possibility of drugs, more specifically poisonous drugs that could be easily slipped into food. I was unsure how to proceed after this I couldn't refuse the food I hadn't been joking when I said earlier that the combination of blood loss and head injuries with an empty stomach was putting me in danger. But, if I ate it and it killed me well let's just say I didn't want think about how easy me being dead would make his plan. I was already beginning to doubt that I was going to make it out of this alive.

He must have noticed that I wasn't eating because he said "It isn't poisoned, I need you alive for now." I'm not sure if that was supposed to be reassuring but my hunger triumphed over my common sense and I began to eat.

MM sat beside me and watched me eat he looked at me like I was an experiment something to be studied. It bothered me so I began to do a little studying of my own, "Do you have a name," I asked I had been referring to him as Mystery Man in my head but if I had a name it might be easier to get things out of him or to get his attention when I needed something.

"You may call me Moriarty," he answered after a second.

"Alright Moriarty then, do you mind telling me what I'm doing here, I mean why do you need me at all?"

"Oh dear, I don't need you. You are merely a pawn in a game of chess my master is playing with Mister Jane. Any one of your little relatives would have worked but you seemed the strongest of the bunch and I couldn't very well take Ms. Lisbon now could I, we need him to panic not have a psychotic break. I needed someone who would hit him where it hurts and this new relationship of his well it just provided the perfect opportunity."

"What do you mean hit him where it hurts?"

"Patrick is a family man, and whenever he gets a little too big for his britches, well the best way to take him down a peg or two is by hurting someone close to him. Last time master killed his wife and child and this time he's playing with him by hurting Teresa Lisbon and his new family. The longer we toy with him by holding you the farther and farther he falls."

The longer I kept him talking the more I could piece together of his little plan. From what I could figure he was using me to toy with Jane. But, like a cat when e was done playing someone was going to end up dead and that someone was me.

"How is your master toying with Jane, he has no idea who took me all he know is that I'm missing?"

"That's where you're wrong, Patrick has gotten a letter telling him all about what has happened and if he keeps going at this rate he'll find another one real soon and this one comes with a special present."

Then it clicked, Jane had told us that RJ always used the blood of his victims to paint a red smiley face above them. That's why he took the blood so he could paint a smiley above the next letter. I didn't ask any more questions I didn't have to I knew what he was going to do and I knew that he was going to keep me alive long enough so Jane and Aunt Tess got to watch him kill me.

When the questioning ended so did my time upstairs, he once again cut the rope and pulled me back down to the basement. He tied me to the chair and left leaving me to my thoughts.

I had heard stories about people coming to terms with their deaths when they knew they were coming I hadn't believed them, I mean come on your on deaths door and you just roll over perfectly content with dying. But, now that I knew what was going to happen to me I found myself accepting it I was about to be killed but at least this way I would be saving my sisters from dying instead and if this all goes down like I think it will then I might even get to see Aunt Tess, mom I guess now, one last time, hopefully if I do I'll see Jane again too. Then I could tell him how it's not his fault and to be good to A-mom and the girls. Mom, I like the ring it has to bad I'll never get to call her that.

The thing about being locked in a basement for hours is while you may come to terms with your impending doom, you get bored and when bored my mind is similar to that of an ADHD squirrel on acid. So anything and everything ran through it but mostly it was different scenarios of my impending doom, because while Moriarty may have told me I was going to die he didn't exactly specify how. So scenes ranging from me being shot in front of my mom to me being slowly slit open after watching everyone I love die flashed through my head. Pleasant right, so because the universe is just funny like that as I imagine every one dying around me Moriarty comes storming down the steps.

"They found the second clue John."

"No, I'm not stupid I know it's only been a couple hours."

"Yes, I know that they will have to stop to rest soon."

"Well, were going to have to move her."

"Why? Because, because we made a threat and were going to have to carry through."

"Yes of course that's what I mean. It's not going to take him long we need to move, now," he stressed the last word putting enough weight on it to actually make me flinch.

"You know that's what we have to do John."

He turned away from where I guess John was standing and turned toward me he cut me out of the chair again and we went into the dining room he continued to pull me we went out the door across from the basement. We went down a long hallway and out of a large wooden door. The light blinded me for a couple minutes but I could tell that the sun was setting and that I had been abducted for at least 12 hours. He pushed me back into the van and slammed the door shut he climbed into the driver's seat and squealed out of the drive way.

We had been driving for an hour or two when he pulled off on the side of the road and put his hazard lights on. I could tell by looking out the over the dash that we were at the golden gate bridge. He yanked open the door and reached back toward me.

I saw the flash of metal making me pretty sure that this time it was the gun that knocked me out.

* * *

**I had been thinking about doing this for a while. So I'll have a normal chapter next time promise. Just remember that reviews = happiness and happiness = faster updates!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Super sorry it took so long to update guys! It's finals time and my story got put on the back burner but better late than never right!**

_A petite brunette girl, holding a red envelope_

* * *

By the time Lisbon registered what she was looking at Jane had already taken charge. He ducked under the yellow police tape and found the officer running the scene, she chased after him, he was going to need a badge to take over and someone to keep him from getting arrested.

When she finally managed to locate him he was arguing with a man who looked like he could make Rigsby run crying to his mommy and the gun he had at his waist wasn't helping the image. As she got closer she heard the words arrest, tampering, and evidence she quickened her pace and managed to make it to Jane's side before the officer had his cuffs out.

She flashed her badge "Agent Lisbon, CBI, were taking the case."

"Detective McNabb, SFPD, he's with you," he said motioning with his head at Jane.

"Yes," she said curtly.

"Well, we didn't get word that CBI was taking over ma'am so…"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand "Listen Detective," she said putting as much condescension in the word as she could manage "we are trying to catch a killer here and that girl your about to put in that body bag is just the first of many so if you don't back up I'll make sure your next job is directing traffic." With that she turned on her heel and ducked under the tape heading toward the M.E.'s van.

As she walked away Jane stared at her feeling an odd mix of fear and admiration. Fear for what this could do to her and the girls and admiration at the ballsy stunt she just pulled. The CBI had no authority and if the detective called Hightower he would know it immediately but she didn't care all that she was concerned with was keeping her family safe, something he could identify with. He ducked under the tape and headed toward the van. He jogged over to where Lisbon was standing and got there in time to hear her ask "Dr. Sweets can I please see the girl?"

The young lanky medical examiner looked her up and down as if he was trying to assess what he was supposed to do with someone who was still alive. She must have passed some sort of test because he slowly unzipped the body bag and allowed her to look in at the girl. The tension immediately left her body, Jane quickly snapped his head to look at the face of the girl.

From a distance the girl matched Becky's physique but when he got a look at her the differences became obvious. Her eyes were closed but he could tell that they were small beady and sat close to the bridge of her nose, her nose was large and upturned almost pig-like and her lips thin and well, blue.

"Was there any identification on the body," Lisbon asked, now that the murder had lost the personal aspect it allowed her to think more rationally.

"Yes ma'am, the victim's name is Bailey Latham; she's twenty-five and works as a waitress in a Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco."

"Time of death," she asked.

"Liver temp estimates between two and three hours ago."

"Cause of death, drowning right."

He shook his head and unzipped the bag a little farther, revealing a wound that nearly sliced her neck in half. "At first glance this appears to be cause of death but I won't know for sure until I can get her back to autopsy."

"Thanks Doctor."

They turned and left returning to Detective McNabb, he was interviewing a group of drivers "If you remember anything, anything at all don't hesitate to call."

"Ah Miss Lisbon," he said when he turned to face them "what can I do to help you."

"It's Agent," she snarled "and yes you can, we need to know if this is the scene of the crime."

"No ma'am, there wasn't enough blood for the scene to be here. Based on the M.E.'s findings she bled out and unless he cleaned up after he was done then she wasn't killed here."

"Was anything important found on the body, ID, credit card, a note…" she dropped off hoping that he would get the hint.

They stood there staring at each other for several minutes after this until Jane finally shouted "Obviously that was too subtle for you, the red envelope that was on the body when you pulled her out of the water we need it. Now."

"Excuse me, I don't know who you think you are but until Miss Lisbon asks for it you won't be getting anything."

"It's Agent," the both growled.

"And I don't see how a waterlogged piece of paper is going to provide a major breakthrough in your case, Agent," he continued.

Jane could feel his anger bubbling up threatening to boil over. How dare this Neanderthal speak to her in such a way what little self control he had went out the window and he said "Well, a good detective would know that anything at a crime scene could be a vital piece of the puzzle but then that would imply that you're a good detective."

"Excuse me."

"You heard me obviously you're not very good at your job why else would you still be just a detective, at your age you should at least be a bit higher up in the chain. You only just proved my theory about that to be correct when you called the note from our serial killer what was it; oh yes a waterlogged piece of paper. So if you don't mind you could, no you should treat your betters with a little more respect you slobbering excuse of a cop." He saw the knuckles of the cop collide with his face but it wasn't until he heard the loud crack that he could actually feel any pain. The blood felt warm as it seeped through his fingers and down his face staining the collar of his white shirt red.

She watched as Jane berated the man and as he struck out and hit Jane. But when she heard him cry out and she watched the blood seep through his fingers she felt something snap in her. "You," she said motioning at one of the SFPD officers that stood around the scene "I want you to get him in cuffs and out of here."

"Ma'am," he said questioningly "um… he's my boss I don't think I can do that, especially when I don't know what he did."

"He assaulted a member of my team and I want him out of here."

"Lisbon," Jane said from behind her voice muffled because of his hands "it's all right just ask the lad if he'll get Doctor Sweets over here."

She turned to face him "No Jane it's not alright. He just punched you in the face and he might have broken your nose."

He cut her off "Which is why I need Doctor Sweets to see if it's broken, arguing about what happened and who's running the case will only waste time."

She sighed "Fine you go see Dr. Sweets, but I want him out of here."

He walked back over to the van, "Hey Doc I do you mind," he motioned at his face with one hand while holding his nose with the other.

He nodded "I see you rubbed Detective McNabb the wrong way."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Let's just say you're not the first to end up on Mr. McNabb's bad side. Now let's take a look." Jane pulled his hand away and winced as the doctor placed his hand on his nose. "Sorry about that most of my patients aren't really concerned about cold hands."

He smiled and then grimaced as the doctor pressed down on the bridge of his nose. Sweets pressed up and down the bridge of his nose several times before wiping his hands off on his jeans. "Well I have good news and bad news," he said "which do you want to hear first."

"Good news," he said tentatively.

"Well, good news is your nose isn't broken."

"Bad news?"

He smiled "You're going to have a wicked black eye tomorrow." Jane smiled and rose; he shook hands with the young doctor and turned to find Lisbon.

He found her on the phone arguing with someone in a harsh whisper "I know we took over less than truthfully. It's not like I… No we didn't… Well he punched… Alright, yes boss I understand." She closed her phone with an angry snap.

"Did we get kicked off the case," he whispered.

She jumped at the sound of his voice "Was it broken?"

He smiled "No, but don't change the subject. Did we get kicked off the case," he said the last sentence slowly enunciating every word as if it would make a difference.

She sighed deeply "No, but I'm in some pretty hot water."

He wrapped his arm around her pulling her close, he kissed he top of her head before he let her go "Come on lets go see if we can find 'the waterlogged piece of paper' that our detective hid."

She giggled "Alright but first I need to check in with Cho."

She turned and headed back toward the car. She climbed into the passenger side of her car and turned to see Abby, Lilly, and Kate in tears "Girls, girls what's wrong?"

"Sh-she's dead isn't she," Lilly cried out.

"Oh, oh sweetie no, no someone's dead but Becky, well it isn't Becky."

Abby sniffled "So, where is she then."

"Jane's trying to find out right now sweetie. I'm gonna call Cho okay maybe he's found something."

The girls nodded in unison eyes dried now that they knew their missing comrade was okay at least for now. She waited as the phone rang once, then twice and prayed that her second in command would answer "Cho," she heard on the other end.

"Hey Cho, it's Lisbon; you got anything on the print."

"We sent it to the lab for analysis; we put a rush on it but…"

She cut him off "Don't count on it coming back to soon yeah I know the drill. What about the," she looked back at the girls before continuing "what about the, um, spray paint."

"Its blood and we need a sample of hers to run it against to compare DNA."

"Can you use the sample of mine that's on file, were blood relatives would that provide enough comparison points to make a definite id."

"I'll get forensics on it boss."

"Oh and Cho, I need you to send Rigsby to run the crime scene here at the Golden Gate bridge and can you send Van Pelt to bring the girls home."

"Will do Boss."

She hung up and turned to look at the girls "Alright, Jane and I are going to stay her until Rigsby and Van Pelt get here. Van Pelt is going to bring you home I call if anything happens but unless you get a call from me the four of you need to stay there, got it!"

The three of them nodded "Good." She pulled them up to her and kissed them lightly on the forehead "Love you guys," she called as she got out of the car.

She had just ducked under the tape when she saw Jane rushing toward her. "I got it," he called.

"You got what," she questioned.

He held up a finger and reached in his breast pocket to produce an evidence bag with a red envelope in it. "How did you manage to get that without a badge," she asked eyebrows raised in accusation.

"I know what you're thinking and no, I didn't steal it. Everyone at the scene knows me as the CBI guy that McNabb socked so they had me sign a form saying I took it and handed it over no badge required."

"Alright, have you opened it yet?"

"Nope, I was waiting for you."

She sighed "Okay, let's get this over with."

He carefully opened up the evidence bag and pulled out the red packet. The envelope was open and he slid the red stationary out and read.

Scared you didn't I Jane?

Nope, she's not dead… yet.

But, I grow weary of this game of cat and mouse.

Why don't we meet up maybe I'll let you see the girl one more time.

But, first you have to figure out where it is that I am.

While this game was lots of fun

Hopefully it will soon be done

But before this game can end

We have to go back to the begin-ing

Oops that last line didn't rhyme shame on me.

See you soon Jane.

**So I'm ending here for a couple of reasons and please read this part it is VERY important! So I need your help I'm not sure where I'm going with this I have a couple of different locations and it's up to you the readers to decide! Based on this poem we can go one of three places or if you like we can go to all three using an elimination type deal. So we can either go to the CBI building, the school, or Jane's house in Malibu. To enter your votes you can PM me or comment on this. I'll leave this poll open for a week or in other words until March 8****th****, my birthday for those of you who care, and if your votes aren't in by then they won't be counted.**

**One more thing and then I swear I'm done, last chapter got very few reviews and I'm curious if it's because you didn't like the way it was written which is cool or maybe you just didn't like it which again is cool. Or, if you just didn't feel like commenting either way let me know in the reviews.**

**So comment on this piece on the things above, thoughts, questions, suggestions, or concerns. Flames are welcomed and appreciated. Have an awesome day and awesome week guys and hopefully my next post will be up sooner then this one was!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven! Sorry this took so long to upload but I've had school and homework. Plus I wanted this chapter to be super amazing so I spent a long time on it, and the plot bunnies kind of ran away so I had to collect those! But for those of you who care the chapter is here!

Super duper special thanks to **madcloisfan, Droupy48, **and **Mentalist15 **for telling me where they wanted this to end up! I appreciate it guys!

As always I don't own the Mentalist, it hasn't changed and it most likely never will! Enjoy!

* * *

Jane finished reading leaving them both stunned, silent until the ringing of Lisbon's phone interrupted.

"Lisbon," she answered.

"Boss, Van Pelt and I are here; and, I have some things that we need to talk about, preferably in person," Cho said.

"Okay, Jane and I will meet you by the car in five we just need to finish up here." She snapped her phone shut putting an end to the conversation. She turned toward Jane "Cho and Van Pelt are here, Cho's going to run the scene and Van Pelt will take the girls home while you and I try to figure out what the poem means."

"Well, we might want to put a rush on that last part," he stated.

"Of course the faster we find her the better."

"No I mean…" he broke off and flipped over the card.

On second thought, I'm getting a bit impatient.

You have 12 hours Jane

Or else…

"Wait if time of death was around three hours ago then we have less than nine hours."

He nodded grimly "But, the clue was at least specific the beginning, where did this all start?"

"It's specific," she cried incredulously "Jane he could mean anywhere, where it started for him, where he got the first idea, where Red John was born. He could mean any number of places this is far from specific."

"Ah but that's where your wrong, my dear."

"Really and where is it that I'm wrong."

"Well everything but I'll tell you what specifically you were wrong about when we get to the car; we are supposed to meet Cho and Van Pelt," he pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch "now, so we should probably go."

She sighed in resignation, Lisbon had worked with Patrick Jane long enough to know when she had been beat. "Alright let's go."

They found Cho and Van Pelt standing by the yellow police tape. "We have to hurry we have less time than we thought originally, Van Pelt grab the girls, they're in my car, and take them home. Cho I want you here we know whoever is posing as Red John killed the vic but I need someone here to deal with all the commotion; and, I need someone to deal with that," she jerked a thumb toward a cruiser holding an irate Detective McNabb in the back seat.

"Am I going to get to find out what 'that' is and what Jane did to cause it?"

She looked down and smirked and repressed a laugh when Jane tried to justify what had happened. After a couple of seconds of his blustering she cut him off "Just ask one of the other detectives Jane has become something of legend. Now what was it that you wanted to tell me that you couldn't say over the phone?"

"We got a hit on the prints we pulled from the last scene. It's a John Smith no record but he was in a psychiatric hospital for schizophrenia and has bouts of manic depression."

A look of panic crossed her face as she grabbed Jane's arm and pulled him toward the car "We need to go. Now!"

Van Pelt followed them to Lisbon's car; Teresa opened the back door and the three girls fell out. She wrapped the three of them in her arms and kissed them all on the top of the head "I want you to be good for Grace, okay, none of that crap you pull at home, got it." Tears shone in her eyes but she smiled anyway.

"When are we anything but perfection," Abby teased smiling but sadness tinged her words.

They followed the red-haired woman to her car as they left Teresa called out "Love you guys, I'll call you as soon as we figure anything out."

A tear ran down her face as she turned to get in the car, she saw Jane start to climb in the driver's side, "Oh, hell no Jane, there is no way I'm going to let you drive my car."

He looked at her and smiled and started to speak to her the same way he would if she were a child "Teresa, you've been up for almost a full twenty-four hours. Once the adrenalin starts to wear off your going to crash and I don't want to be in the passenger's seat when you do. So, I'm going to drive and you are going to take a nap."

"You've been up longer than I have," she cried in a futile attempt at winning a battle she knew she had already lost.

He gave her a look that managed to make her feel ridiculous for even saying such a thing "But, but," she sputtered as he just shook his head. She sighed in acquiescence "okay."

He smiled, he knew how much she hated to let him drive but if she passed out behind the wheel then there was no way that they would find Becky.

As they started to drive he placed a hand on her arm trying to comfort her. It had been a rough day that was for sure and all he wanted to do was be there for her, just like she was there for him when he really needed it. They drove in silence for a while he wasn't sure where he was going just trying to get away from the evil of the crime scene. After nearly an hour she broke the silence "When are you going to tell me where the beginning is."

"After you take that nap that I told you to," he replied.

"Jane," she pleaded.

"If I tell you where we're going will you go to sleep, please," he requested "You look like death warmed over Teresa," he added trying to get his point across.

"Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Tess."

"Patrick, please, I need to know," her emerald green eyes were rimmed with red.

"Alright," he relented "the plan is to hit the three starting points of this whole… adventure."

"Three?"

"Yes three, the one we're headed to right now and the other two."

She frowned "Care to share."

He paused thinking "Hmm… Alright I'll tell you where were going, right now. Then along the way, unless we find her, I'll tell you where our next destination is."

She sighed, rolling her eyes "Alright where are we going right now."

"Right now, we are headed toward the school. It was the beginning of the crime and the beginning of this scavenger hunt. I doubt he's hiding her there but she might be and regardless it's a good place to start. Not to mention it's half way between…"he dropped off at some point during his spiel Lisbon had drifted off and was now fast asleep. "Good," he murmured "we still have an hour or so before we get there she needs the rest."

She woke up right as he pulled in the parking lot;

* * *

she was a little groggy but aside from that she was feeling and looking a lot better then she had earlier that day. "Alright, where are we starting?"

"Let's start in the main office, maybe we'll get off easy and there'll be a letter there already."

She gave him a look that asked if he was serious but he either ignored it or hadn't seen it. He strolled in the building and through the doors to the main office. He leaned over the front desk and gave the twenty-something office aid a mega watt smile "Hello, I don't think we've met I'm Patrick and I'm with the CBI."

"H-hi Patrick," she whispered bashfully "h-how can I help you."

"We would like to know," Lisbon cut in wrapping her arm around Jane's waist "if anyone brought a letter or a note in for a student today. It would have been written on a red paper."

The young aid curled her lip when she saw where Lisbon's arm was placed and sneered "Nope sorry."

Jane flashed another mega-watt smile "Are you absolutely positive, there's a little girl missing," he leaned in closer and whispered "it would reeeeally help me out if you could check again." He stretched out the syllables in really affectively bringing another smile to the girls face.

"Okay I'll double check."

"Thanks," Teresa snarled.

When the girl returned she shot Lisbon a death glare before smiling sweetly at Jane. "I'm sorry but there's nothing back there; but, if you need anything else don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't don't worry," Jane said as Lisbon ushered him out the door.

"Someone was a little jealous," Jane smirked when they were out of the room.

She blushed only Jane, she thought, could make me feel this silly about something so, well, silly. "Don't feel bad my dear, I thought it was cute." He gripped her arm and pulled her down the hallway.

"Where are we going?"

"Just because the lovely office aid didn't have a note doesn't mean there isn't one."

"That doesn't tell me where we're going Jane."

"Patience is a virtue, darling."

"Don't darling me; just tell me where the hell we're going Jane."

"We're headed to Becky's locker that's where the first note was found, so that could be the beginning."

"Now was that so hard," she said smirking.

He ignored her again and led her toward a locker there was a red letter taped to the front. He ripped it off the front of the locker and read it out loud.

Oops Jane you just missed me.

Since you wasted your time I'll give you two more hours.

If you haven't found me by 21:30 then

Well you know.

See you then Jane.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," he shouted slamming his hand against the locker and slid to the ground.

"Hey," she murmered as she slid to the ground and started to rub her hand up and down his arm "you said you had other places that she might be. Get up, we'll try one of them now, come on."

He rose reluctantly but suddenly with a renewed vigor grabbed Lisbon's arm and took off running down the hall. "Come on if we hurry we might be able to get there before he does"

Before they went to the car Jane stopped by the office again, "Hello again," he drawled "just thought I'd pop in before I left and make sure nobody stopped by."

"Nope, sorry again." He started to leave before she called out "But, if you give me your number I could call you if anything shows up."

"That's okay," he replied over his shoulder "if nothing's come yet I doubt it will. Besides I don't think my girl friend would like that very much."

The change in demeanor was evident on the faces of both Lisbon and the office aid. Lisbon's face was suddenly filled with a sly smirk, obviously gloating at the young woman behind the counter. The young woman's face in turn flashed with both a mix of anger and jealousy, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared, she forced a smile and responded "Alrighty, but if there's anything I can do to help you can call me or the school."

"We'll be sure to do that." Lisbon cut in "Come on Patrick let's go."

As they headed out the door Jane couldn't resist sending a little jab Lisbon's way "Did the green-eyed monster come out to play again."

The comment earned him a smack to the arm and a muttered "Bite me."

So when he purred "With pleasure," he should have expected the punch that came with it.

"Just tell me where we're going next," she growled

"You sure you want to know," he teased.

A low growl escaped her lips and she glared at him "Jane," she said sternly.

He held up his hands in surrender "Okay, okay were headed to the CBI next."

"Alright, why?"

"Well that's when we first got the case wasn't it."

"Do you really think he could get her in to the building though? He would need to show his id just to get in the door and how would he get a girl that the whole building knows has been kidnapped through the door…"

As she started to rant and Jane could hear the note of panic edge it's into her voice, he grabbed her arm and shook her gently "Teresa, come on get a hold of yourself. It's just a theory it has just as much chance of being true as her being here did."

"Your right Jane, I'm sorry I guess I'm just a little stressed is all."

He smiled at her letting her know that all was forgiven "Come on lets go, maybe by now Cho will be back at the bull pen."

* * *

As they pulled up to the security window Lisbon leaned across Jane's lap and flashed her badge before asking "Did anyone come in here today that didn't have a badge or a pass, they had to use their id?"

"Nope," he replied "just the usual agents and consultants," he said nodding his head at Jane.

"Follow up question," Jane added "has Agent Cho gotten here yet?"

"He just pulled in a few minutes ago," he answered "anything else?"

Jane flashed a half smile before answering "Nope I think that's it."

He ripped into the parking lot and leaped from the car before the engine had a chance to even shudder to a stop. Lisbon quickly leapt from the car and chased after him she managed to catch him right before the elevator doors shut. As she slipped in he pressed the button for their floor rapidly until the doors slowly shut. Once the doors finally closed he began to pace the enclosed space "If you keep pacing all your going to do is wear down the carpet," Lisbon told him not taking her eyes off the door.

He opened his mouth in reply but before he could the elevator dinged open and she quickly stepped out. As they rushed into the bull pen Cho and Rigsby both looked up in surprise "Boss, did you find…" Rigsby started to say but was cut off as she continued to run toward her office.

Jane remained behind to reply "No, we haven't found her and to answer the question your about to ask we are here looking for a clue as to where she might be. The clue said to start at the beginning which would be where we are." Maybe he added to himself "Now has anyone come through here headed toward Teresa's office."

Cho gave him a look letting Jane know he noticed the slip before saying "Just got here but I haven't seen anything."

He looked toward Rigsby "Nope haven't seen anything dude, sorry."

He turned on his heel and headed toward her office he stuck his head in "Anything?"

"No," she replied "but I didn't think there would be. Unless John has figured out how to forge a CBI id so the new security guy would… Shit, shit, shit!" She turned and ran out the door.

Jane ran after shouting "Lisbon, Teresa wait, what's wrong?"

He caught up to her as she stood outside the elevator she pressed the button but after a couple of seconds turned and ripped open the door to the stairs and flew down them. When they got to the ground floor she told him to grab the car and meet her at the gate. She ran out and saw exactly what she thought she would, a red smile on the back wall of the security hut and a note tapped to the outside. "Damn it!" she yelled repeating Jane's cry from earlier.

When Jane pulled around she climbed into the passenger's seat of his blue Citroën and held up the note she pulled from the wall. "We should have known, no we should have noticed! Of course he wouldn't be able to get in the CBI and how often is there a new guard on duty!"

"We weren't looking for him here. This isn't the first time he's gotten in under our noses."

"But, we talked to him Jane he was inches away from us. Hell, I brushed hands with him when he looked at my badge!"

"What does the letter say Teresa," he asked patiently

She ripped open the letter and read.

Jane, Jane, Jane

Why do you keep fooling yourself?

You knew where I was from the very beginning.

Better hurry I'm starting to get antsy.

But before you do I want to say

Teresa is even more beautiful than her lovely niece.

I see why you like her so much Jane.

Jane growled as he crumbled the paper and as he started to drive he tossed it into the back of his car. He ripped out of the parking lot and out on the road nearly crashing into a black Volvo on the way out he sped up ignoring the blare of the horn behind him. "Where is he Jane?" she whispered adding slightly louder "What did he mean you knew from the beginning?"

His ocean blue eyes were rimmed with red and he had a grim smile on his face "Hope your comfortable Tess cause we have a long drive ahead of us."

"Where are we going Jane," she asked again louder this time.

"Were going to Malibu, more specifically my house in Malibu."

Whatever anger she felt about possibly being lied to over where Becky was melted away when she saw the look on his face. She wasn't a mentalist like Patrick Jane but his thoughts were written clearly all over his face, she could see how desperately he wanted her to be anywhere else. She could almost see the wheels turning around in his head trying to process the fact that part of his new family might die in the same house where his old family did.

* * *

Jane had been right when he said the drive would be long and she spent the first hour or so passing in and out of consciousness. A tear silently slid down her face as she watched the scenery wiz by her window they had been driving for what seemed like years and the clock was quickly ticking its way toward 21:30. After he had told her where they were going they rode the rest of the way in silence, neither one making a sound the whole way. He pulled in the drive way and a shudder rolled down her spine, she had never liked being in or near Jane's old, large, empty house on the best of days but now that there was a killer in there, the thought made her cringe.

Jane was less than eager to come back to his house, he hadn't been there in days not since Teresa insisted he help with the girls. He hadn't moved in with her per say but he sure as hell wasn't living here anymore either. But now he was back and history was repeating itself he had gotten to comfortable, he had found love, happiness, but Red John couldn't allow that; he was going to make him pay again for a mistake he made years ago, and had already cost him dearly.

As he climbed out of the car he went around back to his trunk and pulled out a vest, when Lisbon came up behind him he tossed it at her. She caught it before it hit the ground and asked "What is this?"

"Tsk, Lisbon what are you doing in this line of work if you don't even know a vest when you see one."

She narrowed her eyes before rephrasing the question "Alright, why are you handing me this vest, then."

"Again Tess this seems a little bit obvious, but based on the look on your face I'm going to go ahead and tell you." Concern edged its way into his voice before he said "I don't want you to get hurt, I don't know what's going to happen when we're in there but I want you to at least be kind of safe."

She didn't say anything but shrugged on the vest and fastened it "What about you?"

"He wants me to suffer, I'll be fine." He took her hand and led her toward the front door. As she touched the handle the door swung open and they walked into the house.

Jane led her down a dark hallway and into the empty living room, where a tall man stood with his hand leaning on an occupied chair; Becky sat in that chair gagged and bleeding, but alive. "Hello Jane," the man drawled "master has been waiting a long time for you to get here."

* * *

End of chapter seven! Only one left, maybe two still deciding, plus an epilogue if I get the reviews for it! Hoped you like it and as always reviews are appreciated, flamers are welcome, and anything at all you see wrong be sure to tell me!


	8. Chapter 8

So guys I'm super sorry about how long it took to update this and to top it off this is like a really short chapter, no excuses just laziness so yeah here it finally is. Oh, and while I have an extensive knowledge of bruises, because I often have many of my own, I wasn't sure about the coloration of facial bruises so the description is just for theatrics sake, so yeah enjoy!

* * *

"Agent, please put the gun away, there's no need for it here," the man said from where he stood by Becky.

Lisbon looked down she didn't remember pulling her gun from her holster but there it was in her hand she didn't put it back until she saw Jane motion for her to put it away.

"So, John, it is John right," Jane asked tentatively when the man nodded he continued "I know that Red John asked you to bring me here, so I'm here now you can let Becky go and she and Teresa can leave. They aren't part of this they don't need to be here."

"Jane," Lisbon started she wanted to tell him that there was no way in hell she would leave him here, alone with, with this psychopath, but she was cut off.

"Now Jane where's the fun in that master wants to see you suffer and if I let Miss Lisbon here run off with her new mommy, well, I'm sure you can see where he wouldn't appreciate that."

She could see Jane's calm exterior begin to crack, this encounter was taking its toll on him and she wasn't sure how much more he could take. Then he smirked something that through both Lisbon and John off "Alright then John, can I speak with your master," the contempt and sarcasm so evident when he uttered the last few words that she trusted that he had a plan.

The question clearly through John off "Wh-what," he choked out, obviously confused by Jane's question.

His smirk widened "You heard me John I want to speak with your master. I want to see him, now."

The panic Lisbon had felt when beginning this journey threatened to engulf her "Jane, are, are you sure this is a good idea?" She questioned hoping he would stop, hoping he would pull one of his ridiculous stunts that never failed to catch the bad guy. This, this just seemed like a spiteful stunt that would end up burning the both them and Becky in the end.

"What do you mean you want to see him," John cried hysterically "he, he's right there." he jabbed a finger at a spot across the room "Are you trying to play me Jane?" As he asked the question he pulled a gun from behind his back "Because I don't like to be played with and neither does master."

At the sight of the gun Jane took a step back and held his hands up to slow down the speeding train that was John's inevitable psychotic break. "No games John, I said I wanted to speak with him, to see him because I don't think he's really there and I think you know that. I think that this has happened before hasn't it John. You saw people, heard people when nobody else did, just like now." He slowly enunciated the last three words watching John finch at each one, his smile growing every time he saw the man across from him step away.

Until John startled them both by smiling it was a small grin at first but it quickly spread until it nearly split his face in half "Oh Jane, you are good, master said you would try something like this, but I never imagined how convincing you would be."

Jane's smile fell and so did his jaw, he stood there gaping at the man across from him, he didn't, couldn't understand why he was being so calm. He was supposed to be waving his gun around, not that Jane wanted that it's just that he knew what to do with it; he knew how to handle a crazy waving a gun around but this man was being rational, or at least as rational as you could be when you see people that aren't there. When you added Becky and Teresa into the mix it made him feel absolutely terrified, he was against a man who was totally in control both physically and psychologically.

Worry enveloped Lisbon so she tuned Jane out before he could say anything else that would put Becky's life in potential danger. Instead she looked at her trying to assess the damage that had been inflicted since she had been there. She had a laceration that ran from her hairline to the corner of her right eye, it was deep and bleeding profusely; she knew it would definitely require stitches and even then it would still probably scar. The blood gushing from her forehead accented the purple and green tinge of her right eye that, had it not been sealed shut from dried blood would be so swollen she wouldn't be able to open it. She had her shoulders tied to a tall backed chair and her wrists were tied to the arms; a small moan escaped her lips and her eyelids fluttered slightly. A gasp escaped Teresa's lips and Jane whipped his head back to glance at her.

He had been standing there stalling now for what was most likely a couple of minutes but it seemed like hours to him. There wasn't much more he could say, he couldn't keep repeating himself to their captor, he had to come up with a plan and he had to do so quickly. If he brought up John imagining things again he doubted that he could rattle him any more than it did the first time. He started to tug on the thread of a plan and as he opened his mouth a gasp escaped Lisbon's lips and he whipped back to look at her.

She flushed but said nothing her thoughts had flown back to earlier today when she and Jane had talked about trust. She realized that she needed to trust Jane to get them out of the situation they were in, to save Becky. She nodded encouragingly at him and he started once again "Alright John you insist that Red John is standing right over there and that the only reason I'm saying this is to through you off, but John how can RJ be standing over there when I watched him die almost a year ago."

He glanced around the room his calm façade crumbling, "No, no, no, he's here."

Jane turned to look at Teresa hoping for some back up "He's not there John, he never was, you're very sick John and you need help. If you just let Becky go and come with us then we can help you get the help you need. Nothing bad has to happen John, just turn yourself in," she added going with what Jane had been saying before, trying to sound like the voice of reason, someone who could help him.

"No," he shouted "he's here. No one ever believed me but he's really here this time." The last words came out in a shriek, Jane could feel him breaking and he relaxed he was in his element working with someone on their breaking point.

Lisbon could see Jane relax and she felt the tension ease out of her, he was in control of the situation and she wouldn't worry about it.

Patrick Jane never knew when to quit, now was no exception, he had John on the ropes and he wasn't going to stop until someone went down. "Admit it John he's not there, when you got out of the hospital you stopped taking your meds and now you're seeing things again."

"No," he shrieked and he pulled his gun and pointed it at Teresa.

For the first time in her life the sight of a gun pointed at her made her freeze, Jane didn't however she heard the bang of the gun and smelled the acrid scent of powder. She saw Jane hit the ground with a muffled thud and saw the blood flower on his chest. "Patrick," she cried out as she fell to the ground beside him she looked up at his shooter and saw him pointing his gun at Becky; she tore her gun from her holster and fired off one, two, three shots. All three landed in his chest forcing him backward and jerking his arm firing off another shot that nicked Becky in the shoulder.

He hadn't thought it through, he just knew he couldn't let that bullet hit his Lisbon he forgot about the vest all he could think about was keeping her safe; he had lost the love of his life to this man and it wouldn't happen again. He felt a sharp pain when it first hit and then nothing he felt himself hit the ground and the warmth when the blood blossomed across his chest. He heard her cry out and three shots ring out a few seconds passed and then another sounded. He heard her whimper and he panicked, did one of those shots hit her. His eyes fluttered open he had to see if she was okay, but his eyelids felt like lead he couldn't see a wound but her vest was covered in blood that he assumed was his own, for sanity's sake. She was looking toward Becky and he realized that the last shot had hit her; his eyes fell shut again, he was going to have to rely on his other senses to figure out what was going on. He heard her hair swish across the fabric of her vest and could see her turning toward him in his mind's eye. "Damnit Jane, stay with me." He heard her dial a number on her phone "Yes, I need a bus here stat, I've got two gunshot wounds one looks to be superficial but she might have a concussion as well. The other could be life threatening." As she recited the address relief washed over him at least Becky only suffered a superficial wound, he was having a harder and harder time staying conscious, he opened his eyes one more time and looked up at Teresa she smiled nervously down at him trying to reassure him "Everything's going to be fine there's an ambulance on its way."

He smiled back hoping to assure her that he was okay but it pained him to do so; he started to tell her not to worry, but before he could open his mouth he shuddered to a stop his eyes fell closed, he found it harder and harder to breath and then he felt nothing at all. There was nothing but black.

* * *

This update was brought to you by the letter "R" like review so do it or Big Bird is gonna come after you! Yes, he knows where you live so you better do it or he might bring Elmo with him and that little red monster know how to use a gun! On a serious note I have **BIG **news, well not news but stuff to say so keep reading please, this could get long! So I'm thinking only one more chapter and maybe an epilogue if you want that review and if you're nice I might even give you a sneak peek of what's to come, and when I say nice I mean no flames. Once this is over I'm not all that sure where I'm going so there should be a poll up by the time you read this and you can tell me what you want to see! I would really appreciate it if you checked it out! If you have something specific you want to see PM me go on don't be shy I'll even do like a co-author thingy if you want! So I think that's it, don't forget to review, Big Bird is watching!


	9. Chapter 9

Guys this is like the last chapter sans epilogue of course! Thanks to everyone who stayed with me through all of this I really appreciate it! Be sure to check out my poll I would really appreciate that too!

Oh and I haven't said this in the last couple chapters but yes I own the Mentalist, along with puppies, happiness, chocolate, and rainbows; which is kinda like how you own the rights to all stupid questions! Just kidding, but I'm sure you figured that out on your own.

* * *

The black blanketed him for an indefinite amount of time, time held no meaning here he just floated in space. After what could have been days, weeks, or even just a couple of minutes the black gave way to a blinding white light. If Jane were a religious man he would have thought he was in heaven, if it weren't that he thought he deserved to be in hell. When he saw Teresa's head appear just in his line of sight surrounded by a halo of white light. He smiled as she leaned down and kissed him softly as she pulled away he was grinning ear to ear. Then she punched him in the arm causing him to cry out "Jeez, Tess what was that for?"

Her eyes were rimmed red and he could see the tracks on her cheeks from where she had been recently crying, her voice wavered with a fresh batch of tears as she responded "You, you said you weren't going to get hurt Patrick. You said you had nothing to worry about!" She got more exasperated with every word. "But, here you are lying in a hospital bed! You flat lined three times Jane, three! How do you think that makes me feel," she erupted into tears but kept going "I, I don't know what I would have done…"

He shushed her and scooted over slightly giving her room to lie down next to him on the bed. He wrapped his arm around her thin shoulders and pulled her closer; she placed her head on his shoulder. "I would never leave you," he whispered in her ear.

"You jumped in front of a freaking bullet Jane," she exclaimed sitting up quickly "you gave me a vest and then jumped in front of a bullet."

He blushed and for the first time in his life looked sheepish "I did didn't I."

She smiled glad he at least had the sense to look embarrassed, even if he was just pretending, and leaned back into his arms "Yeah you did," she whispered into his collar bone.

He lifted her chin and pulled her into a kiss, it was soft at first until she used her tongue to force her way past his lips and into his mouth she probed it gently, he pushed her tounge back forcing his way into her mouth, he quickly pulled back into his own mouth. He nipped gently at her lower lip and a small moan escaped her mouth, a moan that got the attention of the occupant of the bed next to them.

"Guys, I get that you have to forgive him for saving your life or whatever but do you really need to do that right now, with us right here," an unknown voice called out in disbelief from behind the curtain.

Jane pushed aside the divider that separated the beds and gaped at who occupied the bed. Becky lay there with Lily squished beside her and Abby and Kate sitting indian style at the end of her bed "Good to see you up," he said to her.

"I could say the same to you," she smirked.

He turned back to Lisbon "How long have I been in here?"

She thought back her eyes rolling up to look at the ceiling "A day and a half, maybe two. It was at least enough time for everyone on the team to come and pick on you when you couldn't reveal all the intimate details of their personal lives."

He rolled his eyes "Why is Becky still here?"

"They wanted to keep me under surveillance for a couple of days something about repetitive blows to the head." Becky called from next to him "They were gonna let me go last night but some shrink wanted to make sure I wasn't going to freak out and have nightmares about being taken or something." Her tone telling him all he needed to know about her thoughts on psychologists her not so subtle eye roll emphasized the fact that she thought same things he did.

"Hey Aunt Tess did you tell Jane about what Cho said while he was out," Abby called from her place at the end of Becky's bed.

"No, what did Cho say," he asked.

"The rest of the team just said stuff about you being so impetuous," Abby replied "but Cho said something like, um, what was it again Aunt Tess?"

"I think it was something like, Jane only you with your inane fear of guns would jump in front of a bullet for someone with a vest on."

"Remind me to think him later," he muttered.

"I think it's sweet," Lily told him.

He smiled at the girl and then looked down at the woman he held in his arms. She was curled into his chest and seemed to hover on the brink of consciousness he bent down slightly to plant a kiss on her forehead when a sharp pain shot through his chest, his body tensed and he quietly cried out and Lisbon shot up, she was swinging her legs off the bed about to leave and get a nurse when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She turned back to look at him and he pulled her gently back "I'm fine," he whispered. She looked at him skeptically but returned to the bed, she lifted up the blanket and he saw the wound he suffered for the first time. It was covered by a small piece of gauze the center of which was a dark red. "I was hoping for something a little bit more dramatic, seeing as I almost died."

She gently smacked his arm, "Its worse on the inside, the bullet was three centimeters away from hitting a lung it was a through and through, so you're lucky it didn't hit your spinal cord."

He cringed "I feel like these are the same things we'd hear from the M.E. Speaking of, what happened to John."

"He was pronounced D.O.A and is currently sitting in the morgue downstairs. And to answer your next question no, you can't go see him. Yeah, I can do the whole creepy mind reading thing too." She said in response to what must have been the confused look on his face.

"So this is what other people feel like when I 'read their minds'"

She giggled "Yeah pretty much."

He spent another night at the hospital with Teresa by his side, until a crabby nurse forced her out. When he finally got to go home he was ecstatic.

As he slowly walked up toward the door, he thought about how great it was to come home to the woman he was madly in love with. To have a family to come home to, to not have to worry about someone threatening those he loved. It was something he hadn't felt in a while, happiness, relief, liberation from the memory of those who had harmed him. He could feel the weight and the pain lift, the self-loathing he had felt since his wife and daughter died seemed to leave as he climbed the front stairs. As he opened the front door he felt a sense of what could almost be described as euphoria wash over him and as Teresa ran into his arms and the girls crowded around him he was certain that he wouldn't trade this moment for anything. The school daze was over and surrounded by those who didn't care about his past but only cared about his future and their place in it comforted him in a way that couldn't be described. So he just smiled at the woman he held in his arms and hoped that she would realize that the stupid grin he had plastered across his face was one of thankfulness, one of love.

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So kind of a weak ending, sorry about that guys! But I promise the epilogue will, most likely, be better super duper humongus thanks to everyone who subscribed and favorited the story! You guys are the best! Be sure to check out the poll on my profile I would seriously appreciate it! Thanks for all the reviews and would love it if I got some on this chapter! Remember that this update was brought to you by the letter R like in review! So do it or Big Bird will come after you and you better believe he knows where you live!


	10. Epilogue

Dudes, here it is! One quick thing and then I'll let you read. I have a poll up on my page it'll take like ten seconds after you're done reading. Just, please, check it out I would really appreciate it. If you do decide to check it out I'll leave it up until like the end of the monthish so it'll probably be closed by 5/28/11 so yeah pretty please check it out, I would owe you one. Again I would really appreciate it guys!

So yeah I don't own the Mentalist yadda, yadda, yadda.

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Six months.

Six bliss filled, wonderful months.

Six months that he had spent at work, solving cases that didn't involve him or anyone he cared about.

Six months he had spent working side by side with his boss turned girlfriend Teresa Lisbon. Now that these six months were coming to a close he had decided. He had decided he was finally going to ask his boss turned girlfriend to become his fiancé.

But, his father had "raised" him to be a show-gentleman, and as such he would ask for her hand. That was where things got tricky.

* * *

He had left the bull pen early leaving a suspicious Lisbon behind; the only person who knew where he was going was a grinning Van Pelt whom he had taken to help him when he selected Tess' engagement ring. He had generously repaid the red head though by letting it, accidentally, slip that now that she had broken off her engagement with O'Laughlin, Rigsby was going to ask her out.

Now as he approached the door a strange flutter of butterflies filled his stomach but he pushed on slowly unlocking the door to the house and locking it back up behind him. As he entered the living room his eyes immediately fell on Becky, his eyes traced the scar that ran from the middle of her forehead down to the corner of her eye, he remembered that it had been an eventful six months for her too. The scar was the only physical reminder of her brief kidnapping. Not that it was the only reminder; he now had a partner on his long insomnia induced walks, though they were fewer for him and far between for the both of them.

He walked in the room and plopped down on the sofa between Becky and Abby and looked down at Lily and Kate sitting on the floor across the coffee table from him. He looked at all four girls in turn before setting a small, blue felt box on the table in front of him, he flicked it open with his thumb and sat back. He cringed at the squeal the four girls made when they saw the ring, it was a noise similar to that a Harry Potter fan girl would make upon seeing Daniel Radcliffe strolling through the streets of San Francisco. Abby grabbed the ring off the table first; she carefully removed it from the box and stuck it on her finger and murmured what sounded like "Ooh, pretty."

Becky looked at him and smirked "So is this where you put all the money you got from selling your house," she asked with a knowing look gleaming behind her emerald green eyes.

He cocked his head to the side "Sort of, and I don't remember telling you any of that, or anyone else for that matter, Tess doesn't even know. So how do you?" He asked suspiciously.

She grinned devilishly "Guess I've picked up a thing or two from those walks," she said with a shrug.

He grinned back wondering if this is what his daughter would have turned out like had she lived, he ended up deciding that she wouldn't have there was too much Lisbon in all four of them, not that it was a bad thing. "Alright girls I…" he started but was cut off by another piercing squeal.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Becky cried out.

Jane shook his head trying to shake off the ringing in his ears from her cry of girlish glee "You knew what?"

She bounced in her seat getting enough air to tuck her legs underneath her "The look you had this morning, the ring, and you addressing us like this. It only adds up to one thing…" She broke off letting the group fill in the blanks themselves.

After a couple minutes of silence and blank stares Jane decided to humor the girl "Alright then, what's the one thing it adds up to?"

She smiled, a smile that he figured was similar to the one he had given Lisbon time and time again when he debated whether or not he would let her in on his plan "Hmm alright I guess I'll tell you, I mean you're are the one whose doing all this anyway so I suppose you already know. You are here…" she paused, building the suspense in the girls sitting around her "to ask us if it's okay if you marry mom."

Jane's jaw dropped slightly, when he picked it up from the floor a proud grin spread across his face. The same grin he had when Cho successfully coned him and to a lesser degree when Rigsby tried to con him. "I'm impressed you are absolutely right." The smile on her face was priceless she was ecstatic "So girls, you know what I'm here for. What do you say?"

"S-so what you're asking is if we approve of you becoming our uncle slash adopted father," Kate stated.

"Yeeees," he stretched the syllables out uncertain if that was the answer she wanted to the question she didn't really ask.

Obviously it was because she nodded in understanding, Becky nodded with her she nudged Abby who begrudgingly removed the sparkling engagement ring and placed it back in the box. Becky then got up and motioned to the other girls and they left the living room and headed into the kitchen.

* * *

(Becky's POV)

We sat on the floor in the kitchen I pulled my legs up to my chest.

"Alright guys," I said looking at my sisters "what do you think?"

"I say yes, I mean he's living here now anyway," Abby answered "how different would it be if he put a ring on it?"

"Oh-kay," I replied "Single Ladies reference aside I agree. Kate, Lily, what about you?"

The two looked at each other and nodded "Yeah," Lily replied "Jane's cool and I think we would crush him if we said no."

I looked at Kate to see if she agreed with what Lily had said "Yep, p-plus since Jane's been working with me my p-public speaking and my st-stutter have gotten loads better."

The three looked at me expectantly, for the first time I felt speechless. Of course I wanted Jane to marry mom, the name still felt weird on my tongue and in my head, but I wasn't sure how to say that. Since I had gotten home from the hospital I had terrible nightmares from which insomnia ensued. Patrick Jane not only helped me deal with it he let me come on his late night, early morning, walks. He let me sort out whatever problem I was having that day, he even taught me some awesome cons. Jane had become a father figure to me and a ring or a piece of paper saying that he actually was didn't matter but, if that's what he wanted and what mom wanted, then more power to them.

Words still wouldn't form but I could feel the tears forming behind my eyes so I just smiled and nodded. They crowded around me as I blinked to force the tears back I leaned into Abby's shoulder as she wrapped her arm around me. I took my thumb and wiped the excess tears away, gripping Kate's wrist we helped pull each other off the floor. I took the lead and shoved open the door to the living room and saw a nervous looking Jane on the couch.

* * *

How far he had come, even just two, three years ago he had sworn that he would never fall in love again; but here he was sitting on the sofa waiting for a group of deliberating teens to tell him if he was allowed to marry their mother. To top it all off, he felt even more nervous now than when he had asked Angela's father the same question. If the girls said no he would of course ask why and after they explained to him why he, a broken, flawed man, was undeserving, in their eyes, of their perfect mother, he would ask if he would be allowed to stay or if he needed to get packing.

These were the thoughts that filled his mind as the four solemnly emerged from the kitchen, Lily grinned supportively at him and he felt a huge load lift off his chest. "So, have the judges reached their decision," he joked.

Abby grinned evilly back at him "Yes, we have and you are not," she paused "the weakest link."

"Welcome to the family," Kate translated.

* * *

"Jane has bailed out on me early three times now," Lisbon muttered. At least this time, she thought, he wasn't leaving with Van Pelt. The jealousy she felt toward the young agent was unwarranted and undeserved but that didn't stop her from being a little catty with her the next day.

She should have expected him to leave early though he had left home early that morning, the ride back was unusually silent, she tried turning on the radio but quickly switched it off again when she heard the high pitched whining of Justin Beaver or whatever tweenie bopper hunk was "in" now. She hadn't notice but at some point during the six months they had been dating she had actually gotten used to, dependent on, Jane's constant blathering.

She slowly pulled her car in the driveway all the lights at the front of the house were off but Jane's car was parked in front of hers. "Hello," she called as she pushed open the door "girls, Jane you here?"

She set her briefcase on the table by the door and walked into the living room two tall, white candles were lit in the center of the coffee table. "Patrick," she called again wondering if he hadn't heard her or had just ignored her.

She sighed and leaned over the table about to blow out the candle when she noticed something sparkle. She pulled back and found a beautiful silver charm bracelet with a note underneath it.

_Tess, here's a gift for our six months together. There's a charm for every one of my favorite adventures I've taken with you, the strawberry for our trust fall exercise and a goat from the storage crate. Those are just two of my favorites on there, now if you come in the kitchen I have another surprise for you._

She smiled and slipped the bracelet on her wrist and wondered what some of the other charms stood for. Maybe the horseshoe was from the jilted jockey case she pondered as she slowly made her way to the kitchen. Her bracelet made a loud jingling noise as she lifted her hand to push open the door. "Jane the bracelet is beautiful, thank," she looked up and noticed the kitchen was empty too "you." She finished lamely when she didn't see anyone there. "Jane," she yelled wondering if he had just stepped out of the room for a second "Jane, if you're going to leave all the lights in the damn house on I'm gonna make you start paying the bill." She sighed when she didn't see any sign of him coming in, as she went to turn the light off she noticed a long box with another note underneath it. She opened the box and her hand flew to her mouth when she saw what was in it. It was a necklace with small alternating emeralds and diamonds to make up the chain it was just long enough that the ping pong ball sized emerald hung just blow her collar bone. She picked up the paper to see what Jane had to say about this particular gift.

_Tess, I saw this and thought of you; and to answer your question no I robbed neither a bank nor a jewelers. I hope sometime soon you have a chance to wear this. Now if you would join me upstairs…_

"Even when you're nowhere to be found Jane, you still somehow manage to read my mind," she muttered as she left the kitchen and headed upstairs.

She looked left and right when she reached the top and ended up going into her and Jane's room. "Jane, I'm closing in if you're not in here… then…" she dropped off. When she walked in the room there was a small, blue felt box. She flicked open the lid and found a princess cut emerald with a halo of diamonds all perched on an engraved, diamond encrusted silver ring. When she lifted the box a small slip of paper fell onto the floor, she bent over to pick it up. On it she found two simple words.

_Turn around._

She twisted back around finding herself face to face with Jane, the ring box still in her hand. He gently removed it from her grasp "Teresa Lisbon, you, you are my best friend, you're the first person I really trusted after Angela and aside from the team the only person I really trust at all. These past six months have been the best of my life and I want to know," he stopped and went down on one knee, as he did she saw four heads peeking through the doorway all trying to get the best seat, when she looked back at Jane he had the ring box open and a big smile on his face "Tess will you marry me?"

She could feel the tears running down her face, she had heard of people crying for joy but especially in the last six months all she had done was cry. She tried to form words, any word and when she couldn't she just smiled down at him and nodded. As she did the girls rushed in, they crowded around her and Jane, looking at the necklace and the bracelet. A feeling of bliss enveloped her, she had her fiancé's arms around her and her daughters in front of her, she couldn't be happier.

She envisioned her possible future a long white dress, her emerald necklace sparkling in the light as she stood in front of the alter, as she stood in front of Jane; with Van Pelt standing behind her and the girls behind Grace, Cho and Rigsby standing behind Jane. She thought about what their lives would be like after the wedding but quickly decided that it wouldn't be much different, she had, after all, heard Cho say more than once that she and Jane acted like an old married couple already. She leaned her head back on his chest, looked up at him and whispered "You know, now that we're engaged I won't be able to throw my stapler at you without running the risk of someone arresting me for spousal abuse."

He grinned but his smile quickly faded when she added "Though I guess you would have to find someone who would report me first."

"Teresa," he replied with a twinkle in his eye "your rapier wit wounds me. Maybe I'll just take my ring back."

He jokingly reached toward her hand and she quickly jerked it away, he raised an eyebrow and she muttered "Maybe I can keep myself from fatally wounding you, if I can keep the ring."

His grin reappeared, as she lifted her hand toward the light and examined the ring more closely. What their life together was like didn't matter, she knew it could and would be wonderful.

All that mattered now was that they were together.

For however many blissful, wonderful years, solving cases with the team, and coming home to Becky, Lily, Abby and Kate.

It didn't matter if it was five, ten, or fifty years that they were together it would be long enough.

The rest of their lives was, is enough.

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Bam, were done! This is the longest fic I've written and I must say I'm rather impressed with myself. So just so you're aware this update was brought to you by the letter R, like review so do so! Or you better believe that Big Bird will come after you if you don't!


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